Lewis Hamilton’s contract ‘can’t be signed off’ as board meetings planned

Lewis Hamilton’s new contract will be delayed until board meetings are held at Mercedes headquarters, according to Damon Hill. The former world champion claims Silver Arrows executives are likely to be involved in a new deal with Toto Wolff not solely responsible.

Hill stressed this was due to the length of a new deal with Hamilton unlikely to only sign a racing deal with the team. The former Williams star feels an “ambassadorial” role could be in the pipeline which will see Hamilton remain in Mercedes colours even after he’s retired from driving.

Ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix, Hill told the Independent: “As I understand it, the contract won’t just be a racing contract – it will be a full Mercedes ambassadorial contract. That requires a different board to sign off on it, can’t just be signed off by Toto. There’ll be some board meetings in Germany.”

Hill’s remarks come weeks after The Mail reported Hamilton’s demands were holding up a new agreement.

Sources revealed Hamilton would be offered a one-year deal with the option for a second. However, they claim Mercedes are holding out on Hamilton’s demands for a 10-year ambassadorial deal.

Last week, reports suggested Hamilton had also failed in his bid for a five-year extension to keep him in the sport until 2028. Hamilton has continued to pledge his allegiance to Mercedes regardless of the team’s struggling form.

He attempted to ward off concerns ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix and admitted he had no deadline to end negotiations. He commented: “I don’t really have a huge amount to say on the contract side of things.

“It’ll get done when it’s done. If that’s next week, if that’s in a month’s time, as long as it gets done it doesn’t really bother me.” Wolff has also stressed Hamilton was the team’s number one choice with no plan B in place if a deal is not agreed.

Wolff has previously revealed a new deal could be sorted in half an hour and doubled down on his assurances in Austria last week. The Mercedes team principal said: “I am still very confident it is still days,’ said Wolff, puzzlingly. ‘We want to do it super, to get every detail right.”